Essential Management Skills.docx

Essential Management Skills

In today’s business world, management and leadership skills are essential for long-term success. This course teaches you how to manage organizations and empower people. You will learn various leadership models, discover different leadership styles and understand how teams develop. You will also study the basics of project management, change management, crisis management, and time management.

1. Introduction Welcome! Welcome to “Essential Management Skills”! This course teaches you all the essentials a succesfull manager needs to understand. Management is often expressed as the process of achieving an organization’s objectives through guiding development, maintenance, and allocating resources. The four primary functions of managers are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. 1. Planning Planning is the process of determining a course of action for future conditions and events with the goal of achieving the company’s objectives. Effective planning is necessary for any business or organization that wants to avoid costly mistakes. There are different types of planning: 

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Strategic planning involves creating long-range goals and determining the resources required for achieving these goals. Strategic planning is the most far-reaching level of planning and involves plans with time frames from one to five years. Strategic planning includes analyzing the external environment and the organization’s readiness to react. Tactical planning denotes the implementation of the activities defined by the strategic plans. Generally, tactical planning involves shorter-range plans with time frames of less than one year.

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Operational planning involves the creation of specific methods, standards, and procedures for different functional areas of an organization. Contingency planning involves the creation of alternative courses of action for unusual or crisis situations.

2. Organizing Managers have to figure out how many people are needed to get the jobs done. This management role involves blending human and capital resources in a formal structure as well as determining how the job flow happens. The manager will divide and classify work by determining which specific tasks need to be carried out in order to accomplish a set of objectives. 3. Leading Managers also have the role of leading or directing employees and plans. The goal of leading is to guide and motivate employees in order to accomplish organizational objectives. 4. Controlling Managers must monitor what’s going on in the company. Controlling allows a manager to measure how closely an organization is adhering to its set goals. Important steps are: setting performance standards, measuring the performance, taking corrective steps if necessary and using information from the process to set future performance standards.

2. Leadership In this chapter we will address the difference between management and leadership, cover the important concept of “emotional intelligence”, and discuss different leadership styles as well as various modern trends.

Leaders and Managers Although sometimes used synonymously, leadership and management can be quite different. Leaders may be managers, but not all managers are leaders. So just what are the differences? While managers tend to have their eyes on the bottom line, leaders are more often looking toward the horizon, trying to find new

opportunities for growth and development. A manager is usually satisfied with the status quo, whereas the leader is often challenging it. Leadership often involves reinventing the job; strong leaders create their role in an organization or in the world system. Managers are often responsible for executing the task at hand, not thinking of future goals. Managers are responsible for maintaining, but leaders look to innovate. Managers may involve employees in their activities, but often on a “need to know” basis. Leaders, in contrast, work to inspire those around them by trying to help others gain personal growth and development from their activities and by turning weaknesses into strengths. Companies that have “leader-managers” throughout the corporate hierarchy are the most successful.

Emotional Intelligence Daniel Goleman, an American psychologist, was able to analyze what “distinguishes great leaders from good leaders”. It isn’t IQ or technical skills, it’s emotional intelligence (EI): a group of five skills that enable the best leaders to maximize their own and their followers’ performance. The EI skills are:

1. Self-awareness: The ability to recognize and understand the own moods, feelings and drives and also the effects on others.

2. Self-regulation: The ability to changing the own moods. It means learning to cheer oneself up and handling anger effectively. 3. Motivation: A passion to work for reasons beyond money or status. Pursuing goals with energy and persistence. Having optimism even in the face of failure. 4. Empathy: The ability to understand the social makeup of other people. Treating people according to their emotional reactions. 5. Social Skills: The proficiency in managing and sustaining relationships and building networks.

Understanding emotional intelligence is especially important in light of changes in organizational structures.

Leadership Styles Individual managers have their own styles of managing, and within organizations there is often a predominant style of leadership. The predominant leadership styles – autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire – have many variations. We can compare and contrast the effectiveness of each of these styles as it affects employee performance. 

Autocratic Leadership This style of leadership is directive and controlling. The leader will

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make all decisions without consulting employees. The autocratic style of leadership limits employee freedom of expression and participation in the decision-making process. It will not serve to create trust between managers and subordinates. Further, creative minds cannot flourish under autocratic leadership.Autocratic leadership may best be used when companies are managing less experienced employees. But managers should not use the autocratic leadership style in operations where employees expect to voice their opinions. Democratic Leadership This style of leadership is centered on employee participation and involves decision making by consensus. The leader will involve employees in the decision-making process and they will be encouraged to give input and delegate assignments. Democratic leadership often leads to empowerment of employees because it gives them a sense of responsibility for the decisions made by management. Democratic leadership may best be used when working with highly skilled employees. It is most useful for implementing organizational changes and when the leader requires input from knowledgeable employees. One of the down-sides of democratic leadership is that it may lead to endless meetings. Laissez-Faire Leadership This style of leadership makes employees responsible for most of the decisions that are made. This form requires extensive communication. Laissez-faire leadership may best be used when employees are educated, knowledgeable, and self-motivated. Employees must have the drive and ambition to achieve goals on their own for this style to be most effective. Laissez-faire leadership is not a good idea in situations where employees feel insecure.

As with many categories that describe business concepts, an organization and its leadership may apply any or all of these leadership styles. For instance, a company may utilize autocratic leadership style with the lower levels but employ a democratic leadership style with its professional staff in the upper levels. Two additional styles of leadership worth exploring are transformational and transactional. Both have strong ethical components and philosophical underpinnings. 

Transformational Leadership Leaders who have a clear vision and are able to articulate it effectively to others often characterize this style of leadership. Transformational leaders look beyond themselves in order to work for the greater good of everyone. This type of leader will bring others into the decision-making process and will allow those around them opportunity to learn and grow as individuals. They seek out different perspectives when trying to solve a problem and are able to instill pride into those who work under

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them. Transformational leaders spend time coaching their employees and learning from them as well. Transactional Leadership This leadership style is characterized by centralized control over employees. The transactional leader will control outcomes and strive for behavioral compliance. Employees under a transactional leader are motivated by the transactional leader’s praise, reward, and promise. They may also be corrected by the leader’s negative feedback, threats, or disciplinary action.

The most effective leadership style is using a combination of styles. Leaders should know when it is best to be autocratic and when to be democratic. They can also be transformational and transactional at the same time; these are not mutually exclusive styles and in fact can complement one another extremely well.

Leadership Trends In today’s competitive environment, leaders are continually searching for new ideas and approaches to improving their understanding of leadership. Here are thumbnail descriptions of current leadership trends. Coaching A new trend in effective leadership, coaching, has become extremely popular throughout different organizations. This style of leadership involves guiding employees in their decision-making process. When coaching, management provides employees with ideas, feedback, and consultation, but decisions will ultimately be left in the hands of the employees. Coaching prepares employees for the challenges they will face. The lower an employee’s skill and experience level, the more coaching the worker will require. The interactions that an employee has with the manager are the best opportunities they have for enhancing their respective skills. Coaching enables the employees to excel at their tasks. Instilling confidence in employees is extremely important. Employee Empowerment As organizations and companies become increasingly borderless, employee empowerment becomes ever more important. This trend in leadership has allowed employees to participate in the decision-making processes. Employee empowerment is also a method for building employee self-esteem and can also improve customer satisfaction. It also ties them more closely to the company goals and will serve to increase their pride in their work and loyalty to the organization. Global Leadership As corporations become increasingly international in scope, there is a growing demand for global leaders. Although many of the qualities that make a successful

domestic leader will make a successful global leader, the differences lie in the abilities of the leader to take on a global perspective. Global leaders are often entrepreneurial; they will have the ambition to take their ideas and strategies across borders. They will also have to develop cultural understanding; global leaders must be sensitive to the cultures of those working under them, no matter where they are based. Equitable Treatment An important trend in leadership is the equitable treatment of employees. This does not mean that each employee will be treated the same; it means that every employee will be given the amount of individual attention they require, and it will involve leadership knowing his or her employees. A good leader will get to know employees well enough to give them what they need in order to best perform. For some employees that may mean more structure; for others it may mean more freedom. Feedback Employees thrive on feedback, and by providing feedback and communicating effectively, managers can give employees the tools they need to improve their performance. Providing feedback will not dampen employee morale in most cases, but will allow opportunities for employees to learn from their mistakes and move on to performing their tasks better. Positive reinforcement should be used to encourage employees’ positive behavior, but when criticism is necessary, make sure it is constructive.

3. Team Development In today’s complex business environment, working in teams is more important ever. But how do teams develop?

Teamwork Teamwork is defined as a group of people working together to achieve a common goal. Team members are mutually responsible for reaching the goal toward which they are working. Team building is a process meant to improve the performance of the team and involves activities designed to foster communication and encourage cooperation. Additionally, the objective is to avoid potential disputes and problems and to keep the morale of team members high.

Many different industries and organizations use teams to accomplish goals, because people working together can often achieve more than they could individually. How do you know if you need a team to complete a project? Ask yourself the following questions: Can I achieve this goal by myself? Do I have the resources and time to undertake this project? Can other people or a team of other people be more effective than I would be in achieving this goal? If your answers favor the involvement of others, it’s time to consider forming a team. In an increasingly complex environment, organizations are using a team approach to bring a diverse set of skills and perspectives into play. An effective use of teams often draws upon a creative approach of bringing together specialists who combine their efforts and develop intrateam synergies to meet the challenges of their often complex organizational environment. An example of an industry that often uses teamwork is the construction industry. A successful construction project cannot take place without the formation of teams. A design team will be formed at the beginning of the project and is made up of architects, engineers, and project consultants. The design team alone, however, will not be able to complete the project. They will also need to form a team with the owner of the project and the contractor.

Types of Teams Throughout different organizations there are different types of teams that are used to accomplish goals. Two of the most common team varieties are problemsolving and cross-functional teams. 

Problem-Solving Teams These teams are formed only for a specific time period until a problem is solved. Team members often consist of one level of management. Let’s say XYZ Corporation has lost 10 percent of its North American market share. All of XYZ’s regional salespeople will be called in to form a team to regain that market share. Although their regional focus will remain, they will have to work together to solve the problem of regaining that market share, and when they achieve that goal, they will individually work on maintaining their hold in their market.

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Cross-Functional Teams This type of team is made up of members from different areas of the business and often from a common managerial level. If a car company wants to bring a new car to market, a team will be formed and its members will consist of managers from different departments such as engineering, design, brand management, product development, market research, marketing and finance.

Stages of Team Development Team development has been broken into four stages:

Stage 1: Forming The first stage involves assembling the team and defining the goals, which should provide focus and be attainable. It is important that the team leadership understands the strengths of each of the team members in order to assemble a cohesive team. Often in the forming stage, team members will be extremely polite to one another; they will be feeling each other out. An example of a goal that the team may set would be the project schedule. For a construction team, for example, there are many stages of the project that should be completed in a certain time frame to ensure that the project is completed on time for the owner. The design team designates the appropriate amount of time for the construction phase in which the builder will make a profit. It is important to agree upon and set this schedule from the beginning. Stage 2: Storming The second phase involves coordinating efforts and solving problems. If the teamwork starts to slip because of a difficult problem, it is necessary for the team members to get the project back on track. Team members should be conscious of the team’s health and whether the team is taking steps in the right direction to reach the goals. It may be necessary to think creatively about approaches to solving a problem. Communication is extremely important to effective team performance in the storming stage. Effective teams communicate clearly and openly about problems. Ineffective communication can cause unnecessary tension and stress to team members. It is important that communication be relevant and responsive. Relevant communication is taskoriented and focused. Responsive communication involves the willingness of

team members to gather information, to actively listen, and to build on the ideas and views of other team members. Stage 3: Norming The project norms are an informal standard of conduct that guides the behavior of team members. This stage involves defining team roles, rights, and responsibilities. It is important to establish these norms at the beginning of the team-building process in order to avoid problems along the way. In addition to allocating responsibilities, it may also be necessary to allocate the risk that is to be undertaken by each team member. Each member of the team should have a sense of ownership of the project. Allocating responsibility also means establishing a team leader. Team leadership should not be a top-down effort, but should be more of a coaching role. The team leader must act as a cheerleader, encouraging the team members to work together, providing ideas, and serving as a role model. There is often a period after the team has been formed when a conflict of personalities or ideas will arise. Team members begin to show their own styles; they are no longer worried about being polite. At this stage, there will be pessimism on the part of team members in relation to the project and there may also be confusion Stage 4: Performing By this stage, the team is working together effectively, problems have been smoothed out, and achievements begin to become evident. A great deal of work will be accomplished at this stage. The team will be able to tackle new tasks easily and confidently. They will be comfortable using creative means. It is essential at this point to evaluate and report on progress that has been made. The last phase of the project is completion. Often at this time the team will evaluate the results, debrief, and take time to learn and improve its processes for use in future team-based projects.

4. Decision-Making We all have to make decisions every day. Some of them are quite simple, others are more difficult. Difficult decisions typically involve issues like uncertainty, complexity, and high-risk consequences. With these difficulties in mind, the best way to make a complex decision is to use an effective process. Clear processes usually lead to high-quality results, and they can improve the quality of almost everything we do.

Decision Making Process

In this chapter, we outline six steps that will help improve the quality of your decisions: Step 1: Create a constructive environment Firstly, make sure to define what you want to achieve. Also, pay attention to involving the right people and encourage participants to contribute to the discussions. You can use your creativity right from the start – thinking from a different perspective might deliver the best solutions. Step 2: Generate Good Alternatives The more good options you consider, the more comprehensive your final decision will be. When you generate alternatives, you force yourself to look at the problem from different angles. If you do so, you’re more likely to make the best decision possible. Generating ideas though brainstorming and considering different perspectives will help you and your team develop good alternatives: Step 3: Explore the Alternatives Evaluate the feasibility, risks, and implications of each choice. By evaluating the risk involved with various options, you can determine whether the risk is manageable. Determine if resources are adequate, if the solution matches your objectives, and if the decision is likely to work in the long term. Step 4: Choose the Best Alternative The next step is to choose between the alternatives. Compare all the choices you have and determine the relative importance of various factors. This helps you compare unlike factors, and decide which ones should carry the most weight in your decision. Step 5: Check Your Decision Look at the decision you’re about to make objectively, to make sure that your process has been thorough, and to ensure that common errors haven’t crept into the decision-making process. Recheck all the assumptions and the decisions you’ve made against your own experience and against opinions of other employees. Step 6: Move to Action Once you’ve made your decision, it’s important to explain it to those involved in implementing it. Talk about why you chose the alternative. The more information you provide about risks and projected benefits, the more likely people are to support the decision.

Hidden Traps in Decision Making

In making decisions, even by following those steps named above, there are a number of traps that most people unwittingly make. These six traps, formulated by Harvard Professor John S. Hammond, are summarized below. Each of these traps can influence the way in which we make decisions. Being aware of the potential traps and building tests and disciplines into our decision making processes can assist. Trap 1: Anchoring We tend to give disproportionate weight to the first information we receive on a particular issue. In negotiating, for example, people will often centre around the first offer even if this is not necessarily reasonable. Tip: Avoid judging on the first impression and seek information from a variety of sources. Trap 2: The Status Quo In most cases, our decision making is biased towards the current situation (status quo), because it is the “safe” and comfortable option. Tip: Ask yourself if you’d choose the status quo choice if it weren’t the status quo. Trap 3: Sunk Cost Sunk costs have little to do with making a decision today as they relate to past costs and experiences, but they still are in our minds and often lead us to make inappropriate decisions. This trap relates to making choices in a way that justifies past, flawed choices. Tip: Get views of people who weren’t involved in the previous decisions Trap 4: Confirming Evidence We often look for evidence or opinions that will support and justify our own position or decisions and place more weight on these issues than they deserve. Tip: Ask somebody to play Devils’ Advocate (taking the counter position) Trap 5: Framing How a question is framed can have an impact on the answer you select. A common framing trap is to frame a question in terms of gains or losses. People tend to pick the decision that is formulated least risky regardless of the real content. Tip: Pose questions in a neutral manner. Trap 6: Estimating and Forecasting Even though most of us are not very good at making proper forecasts, we actually tend to be overconfident about our accuracy. Additionally, we are overly influenced by vivid memories of past events when estimating. Tip: Be disciplined in forecasting and use statistics instead of personal impressions.

5. Project Management This chapter provides a practical approach to what many consider a complex process: the management of projects. This chapter is designed to simplify the management processes required to manage a project successfully from beginning to end and defines Project Management in simple terms.

Project Definition What is a Project? A project is “a unique endeavor to produce a set of deliverables within clearly specified time, cost and quality constraints”. A project can be as small as moving your office or as complicated as moving your entire company from one location to another. It can involve on person or hundreds of people. There are, however, certain characteristics that most projects have in common. Some typical projects are launching a new product or process, implementing a new company software, replacing existing manufacturing equipment or reorganizing a department, division, or organization. Project Management is the skills, tools and management processes required to undertake a project successfully. Projects differ from standard business operational activities: 

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Projects are unique in nature. They are one-time events and they do not involve repetitive processes. Every project undertaken is different from the last, whereas operational activities often involve repetitive processes. Projects have a defined timescale. Projects have a clearly specified start and are required to be completed by a certain deadline. Projects have limited resources. An agreed budget as well as amount of labor, equipment and materials is allocated to the project. This limitation requires effective coordination of different people, resources, and processes. Projects involve an element of risk. Projects entail a level of uncertainty and therefore carry business risk should the project fail. Projects achieve beneficial change. The purpose of a project, typically, is to improve an organization through the implementation of business change.

A simple way of approaching project management is as a process with four phases:

Phase 1: Initiation 1. Initiation – 2. Planning – 3. Execution – 4. Closure The Initiation Phase is the first phase in the project. Before work on the project can be started, it’s necessary to clearly define what the outcomes of the project will be. This involves not only what specifications and criteria the final project must meet, but when it must be completed and what the budget is. This will probably require some study and analysis, addressing questions about the project such as:

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What’s the objective? What are the expected, required, and desired results? How will success be measured? What’s the timeframe? What are the resource implications?

Essential to effective project management is a clear description of the scope of the project – what is included in the project, what is not included, and where the boundaries between the two are set – established at the start of the project. ‘Scope creep’ is the term for what may occur when the scope is not well defined: as the project progresses, it grows. It thus becomes more difficult to complete the project or satisfy the client.

Phase 2: Planning 1. Initiation – 2. Planning – 3. Execution – 4. Closure Once the outcome of the project has been defined, the project enters the detailed planning phase. It’s important to develop a plan of what work needs to be done, what resources are needed, who will do it, and when. The level of detail needed in the plan will be determined by the complexity of the project and the number of people involved. The plan will probably not be followed exactly – things will happen that lead to adjustments and modifications. One reason for having the plan is to be able to see what needs to be adjusted when a task takes longer than expected or people or other resources are not available when needed. In developing the plan, consider the specifications from the client and any required completion date, the budget, the best sequence of events (and whether any steps can be carried on concurrently), the staff needed and the need for any staff training for their part in the project. The planning phase involves the creation of:     

a Project Plan (that outlines the activities, tasks, dependencies and timeframes); a Resource Plan (that lists the labor, equipment and materials required); a Financial Plan (that identifies the labor, equipment and materials costs); a Risk Plan (that highlights potential risks and actions taken to mitigate them); and a Communications Plan (that lists the information needed to inform stakeholders).

Two key components of any plan are milestones and status reports. A milestone marks the end of a stage or period of the project, and may also be tied to a project deliverable, a specific product provided to the client. During the planning, identify and establish milestones along the way to provide an indicator of progress and successes, and the impact of difficulties or delays that have been encountered. Also, establish a schedule and procedure for communicating status and progress of the plan on a regular basis. Regular timely sharing of this information will allow the opportunity to adjust the plan and rebalance the quality, time and cost constraints. At this point the project has been planned in detail and is ready to be executed.

Phase 3: Execution 1. Initiation – 2. Planning – 3. Execution – 4. Closure The execution phase may be the longest and most visible phase of the project. It is during this stage that activities move from paper to more tangible components. It’s important to monitor progress, track milestones, and regularly communicate the progress, delays, or detours, both internally to the project team and organization, and externally to the client. Monitoring progress and tracking milestones can mean inspecting and testing interim, partial, or pilot products, auditing work records, or holding progress review meetings to compare the original plan of what would be done when and by whom to the actual work and output.

Phase 4: Closure 1. Initiation – 2. Planning – 3. Execution – 4. Closure The project closure phase involves releasing the final deliverables to the customer, handing over project documentation, terminating supplier contracts, releasing project resources and communicating the closure of the project to all stakeholders. While whatever has been created or developed may go on, the project team’s work is done. Activities at the closing of the project can be split into two categories: those for the client or stakeholder, and those for the team and organization. 

For the client: Those who will be operating or using the product need information to do their job effectively. This information includes training and documentation to be turned over to those responsible on a daily, ongoing basis for the new or revised process, system, or product. Also

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included is a formal sign-off that indicates the client has accepted the product, process, or system. For the project team: Evaluate how the project management process worked, and record lessons learned for a more effective process the next time. Celebrate the completion of the work, and the team’s accomplishments. Then release or reassign the resources (staff, equipment, and facilities) to their regular jobs or to new projects.

6. Negotiation Every manager should be a good negotiator. But being a skillful negotiator requires patience, flexibility and an understanding of the other party’s position. Negotiation is never a conflict in which one party wins and one party loses. Upon completion of a successful negotiation, in contrast, both parties should feel that they have won something. Therefore, negotiation is all about cooperation. The primary goal of effective negotiation should be to achieve a deal that both parties can live with and that accomplishes your goals.

Negotiation Styles and Preparation Negotiation Styles There are two major negotiation styles: hard and soft bargaining. Hard bargainers use a relatively agressive negotiation style. The focus is on achieving own goals, whereas the other party’s situation is unimportant. Soft bargainers, on the other hand, try to find solutions that appease all parties. They act more patient and more trustworthy. Fisher and Ury, both Professors from Harvard Law School, recommend a negotiation style called win-win negotiation. They base principled negotiation on the following four points:

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Focus on the interests of all parties, not their positions. Separate the people from the issue. Make a list of creative options that meet the interests of both parties. Base the end result on an objective standard.

Negotiation Preparation Here are some steps you should consider before the negotiation process starts:

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Choose a meeting location where you feel comfortable. Establish your goals and make sure, that they are realistic. Research the other party’s members and their positions. Gather facts and information about the subject of the negotiation. Focus on the other side’s interests to find win-win solutions. Try to find options that meet interests of both parties. Define your “best alternative to a negotiated agreement” (mostly abbreviated as “BATNA”). BATNA is the exact point, when the deal the other side is offering is no longer beneficial to you. For example, if you are negotiating with firm A about getting a job and you already have a job offer from firm B worth $40,000 per year, this salary is your current BATNA.

Negotiation Process and Traps Negotiation Process Regarding the negotiation process, listed below are some points you should consider during negotiating:  

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Make the other side feel comfortable and use small talk to break the ice. Use “active listening” (listen carefully, be patient, ask questions, show interest). Periodically repeat and summarize what they are saying so they will realize that you are taking them seriously and actually listening to them. Begin with those points most likely to be agreed upon and then proceed in descending order of what is likely to be agreed upon. Never give up “something for nothing.” Always link something that you are asked to give up with something that you want. Try to see the other person’s side and separate the people from the issue. Let the other party know that you are seeking a win-win resolution so that both parties gain rather than one party winning at the expense of the other. Don’t be afraid to walk away, when you can’t find an agreement.

Negotiating Traps Last but not least, there are some traps in negotiating people may use while negotiating with you:

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In many cases, parties try to make even very small changes after both parties already agreed to all parts of a contract. This trick, often used to make minimal changes, is called nibbling. Using the Good guy, bad Guy-trick, one individual you are dealing with is a hard, aggressive bargainer whereas another one will try to make you believe he is working as a mediator. A party could set you an ultimatum to intimidate you and get you to sign the agreement quickly. By using the trick of limited authority, people may also offer you a deal, agree with you on it and pretend shortly before signing the contract, that their supervisor will only approve the deal for a slightly higher price. You should also be prepared for checking statistical data the other side shows you. Not all data is trustworthy.

7. Change Management “Change is the only constant.” – Heraclitus, Greek philosopher. What was true more than 2,000 years ago is just as true today. We live in a world where “business as usual” is change. New initiatives, project-based working, technology improvements, staying ahead of the competition – these things come together to drive ongoing changes to the way we work.

Lewin: Three Phases Change Model One of the most popular models for understanding organizational change was developed by Kurt Lewin. Lewin explained change using the analogy of changing the shape of a block of ice in three steps: If you want to change a cube of ice towards a cone of ice, you must

1. melt the ice (unfreeze), 2. mold the water into the shape you want (change), and 3. solidify the new shape (refreeze). Therefore, his model is known as Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze model:

Stage 1: Unfreeze The first stage is about getting ready to change. It involves getting to a point of understanding that change is necessary, and getting ready to move away from our current comfort zone. Key to this is developing a compelling message showing why the existing way of doing things (status quo) cannot continue. The more we feel that change is necessary, the more urgent it is, the more motivated we are to make the change. This first stage involves moving ourselves, or a department, or an entire business towards motivation for change. “Unfreezing” is usually difficult and stressful. When you start cutting down the way things are done, you put everyone and everything off balance. Stage 2: Change Change is not an event, but rather a process. That’s why the second stage can also be called “transition”. People are now moving towards a new way of being. They start to believe and act in ways that support the new direction. This is not an easy time as people are learning about the changes and need to be given time to understand and work with them. People need time to understand the changes and they also need to feel highly connected to the organization throughout the transition period. It’s important to keep communicating a clear vision of the desired change and the benefits to people. Stage 3: Refreeze This stage is about establishing stability once the changes have been made. The changes are accepted and become the new norm. This means making sure that the changes are used all the time; and that they are incorporated into everyday business. With a new sense of stability, employees feel confident and comfortable with the new ways of working. As part of the Refreezing process, make sure that you celebrate the success of the change – this helps them believe that future change will be successful. Conclusion Lewin’s change model is a simple and easy-to-understand framework for

managing change. You start by creating the motivation to change (unfreeze). You move through the change process by promoting effective communications and empowering people to embrace new ways of working (change). And the process ends when you return the organization to a sense of stability (refreeze), which is so necessary for creating the confidence from which to embark on the next, inevitable change.

Kotter: 8-Step Change Model Although Lewin’s model is a good way to understand change management, there are more detailed models about how to “do” change. John Kotter, a professor at Harvard University and world-renowned change expert, identified eight stages of change a company must successfully complete to achieve lasting sustainable business improvements. Step 1: Create Urgency! During this first step it is essential to ensure that the employees are motivated to participate. A change is only successful if the whole company really wants it. If you are planning to make a change, then you need to make others want it. Develop a sense of urgency around the need for change. This may help you spark the initial motivation to get things moving. Open an honest and convincing dialogue about what’s happening in the marketplace and with your competition. If many people start talking about the change you propose, the urgency can build and feed on itself. Step 2: Form a Powerful Coalition! Convince people that change is necessary. This often takes strong leadership and visible support from key people within your organization. You can find effective change leaders throughout your organization – they don’t necessarily follow the traditional company hierarchy. To lead change, you need to bring together a coalition, or team, of influential people whose power comes from a variety of sources, including job title, status, expertise, and political importance. Once formed, your “change coalition” needs to work as a team, continuing to build urgency and momentum around the need for change. Make them feel that they are important within the team. Step 3: Create a Vision for Change! Create a vision that clearly defines where the organization is going. When you have a clear vision, your team members know why they are working on the change initiative and rest of the staff know why your team is doing the change. A clear vision can help everyone understand why you’re asking them to do something. When people see for themselves what you’re trying to achieve, then the directives they’re given tend to make more sense.

Step 4: Communicate the Vision! Creating the vision is not just enough for you to implement the change. You need to communicate your vision frequently and powerfully, and embed it within everything that you do. Talk about it every chance you get – this could be in meetings or just talking over the lunch.. When you keep it fresh on everyone’s minds, they’ll remember it and respond to it. However, what you do is far more important than what you say. Demonstrate the kind of behavior that you want from others. Step 5: Remove Obstacles! No change takes place without obstacles. Always, there are people, who resist the change. Watch out for obstacles and remove them as soon as they appear. Put in place the structure for change and continually check for barriers to it. Removing obstacles will increase the morale of your team, and it can help the change move forward. Step 6: Create Short-Term Wins! Give your company a taste of victory early in the change process. Quick wins are the best way to keep the momentum going, because nothing motivates more than success. Create not just one long-term goal but also short-term targets. By quick wins, your team will have a great satisfaction and the company will immediately see the advantages of your change initiative. Step 7: Build on the Change! Many change projects fail because victory is declared too early. Real change runs deep. Quick wins are only the beginning of what needs to be done to achieve long-term change. Each success provides an opportunity to build on what went right and identify what you can improve. Step 8: Anchor the Changes in Corporate Culture! Finally, the change should become part of the core of your organization. “In the final analysis, change sticks when it becomes the way we do things around here, when it seeps into the bloodstream of the corporate body” (John Kotter). Use mechanisms to integrate the change into people’s daily life and corporate culture. It’s also important that your company’s leaders continue to support the change. If you lose the support of these people, you might end up back where you started.

Responses to Change In the constantly changing corporate world, the one who welcomes the changes stays ahead of the competition. But you have to work hard to change an organization successfully. When you plan carefully and build the proper foundation, implementing change can be much easier, and you’ll improve the chances of success. If you’re too impatient, and if you expect too many results too soon, your plans for change are more likely to fail.

Create a sense of urgency, train powerful change leaders, build a vision and effectively communicate it, remove obstacles, create quick wins, and build on your momentum. If you do these things, you can help make the change part of your organizational culture. That’s when you can declare a true victory. Individuals will have different responses to change. Some will be obvious in either their support or their opposition, while others may be inconspicuous or even covert. Identifying resistance to change and managing it quickly is vital to your change management process; failure to do so can derail even the most carefully planned change. Reinforcing supporters alone will not a successful change process. The first step to overcoming resistance is to understand why the resistance is there. The primary reason for resistance is that change requires employees to alter their existing individual and organizational identities. Once you have identified the true sources of resistance to the change, you can work to address them. This may require individual attention. Following are some tips for dealing with resistance once you’ve identified the cause. 

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Ask the resisters to explain why they are resistant. You might learn something that you didn’t know before and you could even improve the change process. Demonstrate the benefits in adapting the change. You might use personal gains such as potential salary increase, recognition, promotion opportunities, etc. If resistance is due to general fear of what the change might mean to them, consider putting the resister on a team that is determining how to implement the change. For example, a front-line person may be afraid that upper-level decision makers won’t understand exactly how the change will impact them on a day-to-day basis. Putting this person on the implantation team lets them understand the process and can also provide valuable information. Discuss the change in broad-based meetings to put everyone on the same page and provide everyone with the same information. Although it is unpleasant to consider, individuals who stay resistant may have to leave the organization. However, training new employees is more expensive and knowledge will be lost. Remember that most employees will eventually adapt the change if given the right incentives, the right information and support.

8. Crisis Management Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a major event that threatens to harm the organization, its stakeholders, or the general

public. Whether an earthquake destroys infrastructure, computer hackers shut down a company’s entire, a terrorist attack destroys lives and property, or a key manager dies with no immediate replacement – all these events must be addressed immediately. Many models of Crisis Management exist in the public and private sectors. This section argues that Crisis Management can best be defined by the following sixstages process model:

Stage 1: Avoiding the Crisis Crises are unpredictable, but they do not have to be entirely unexpected. As a manager, you have to prepare for crises when things are going well. Key to good preparation is not only crisis management planning but also the implementation of training and exercising. 

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Include crisis planning in your overall strategic planning process and talk to people from other areas of your company about risks in your industry. Perform the SWOT analysis: Find strengths and weaknesses of your company as well as, environmental opportunities and threads for your business. Develop a crisis-risk list: What are the worst things that could go wrong? And what are the most likely crises that could occur?

Stage 2: Preparing to Manage the Crisis In a second step, a manger should develop a crisis plan. Consider everything that might go wrong, and assess the costs if it should. After selecting what-if scenario and possible consequences he/she should brainstorm the kinds of decisions that will have to be made.   

Perform a reality check on your plan by brainstorming possible side effects. Form a crisis-management team and create a communications plan with key persons. Think about what resources will be needed to handle the crisis.

Stage 3: Facing the Crisis In this stage, you have to face unpleasant situations – things get serious! But is the current situation a crisis? In this stage you have to characterize the event and evaluate the size of the crisis. Furthermore, you have to evaluate honestly how you manage the situation.

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Estimate the size of the crisis: How many people are involved? Who and where are they? Get a team in place as quickly as possible. Get all the information you can get about what’s happening.

Stage 4: Containing the Crisis The fourth stage is about damage control and communicating. You have to make decisions – and you have to make them quickly. Be on the scene and show physical presence, respond to your people and communicate critical information to them.   

Stop rumors and false information. Inform key people who needs to know and do so quickly. Stick to the facts and Make your message straightforward and confident. Communicate honestly (otherwise people may blame you for failure).

Stage 5: Resolving the Crises Crisis require fast, confident decision making. Therefore, managers should not be paralyzed when there are no standard operating procedures. Often, they just have to trust their judgment and take action. By making decisions, ensure that the safety of the people is always prioritized and that you grasp new developments.   

Focus on what is in your control and ignore what is not. Help everyone work together and draw people together to act as a team. Avoid blaming others.

Stage 6: Learning from the Crisis Once the crisis has passed, you can Use the experience and make changes to prepare for similar crisis. A manager should review how the crisis was handled and plan ahead.   

Try to find out, if there were warning signals that you may have ignored. Evaluate what you did right and what you could improve. Get input from everyone.

9. Management By Objectives Management By Objectives (MBO) is a management model that aims to improve performance of an organization by clearly defining objectives that are agreed to by both management and employees. The term was first outlined by Peter

Drucker in 1954. In the long run, MBO allows the management to change the organization’s mindset to become more result oriented. In MBO, the management focus is on the result, not the activity. The tasks are delegated through negotiations and there is no fixed roadmap for the implementation. The nature of its planning process provides opportunities for the employees to find individual ways for accomplishing tasks. Some of the important advantages are:    

Employee empowerment increases employee motivation, job satisfaction, and commitment. Frequent reviews and interactions between superiors and employees enable better communication and coordination. The goals are clear. Managers can ensure that objectives of the subordinates are linked to the organization’s objectives.

However, there are also limitations:   

MBO over-emphasizes the setting of goals over the working of a plan as a driver of outcomes. Not all tasks and jobs are suitable for MBO and not all employees are motivated by finding their individual ways to accomplish tasks. It under-emphasizes the importance of the environment or context in which the goals are set.

When this approach is not properly set and managed by organizations, some employees might be susceptible to distort results. In this case, managing by objectives would be counterproductive. Therefore, use of MBO must be carefully aligned with the culture of the organization. Objectives must be discussed openly and agreed upon.

10. Time Management Time management is the process of planning and exercising control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness or efficiency. Traditionally, time management referred to just business or work activities, but today the term broadened to include personal activities as well. A time management system is a designed combination of processes, tools, techniques, and methods. Finding a time management strategy that works best for you depends on your personality, ability to self-motivate and level of selfdiscipline. By incorporating some of the ten strategies below, you can more effectively manage your time.

1. Know How You Spend Your Time Figure out how much time you usually spend on your activities and evaluate the results. Determine which tasks require the most time; determine the time of day when you are most productive; and analyze where most of your time is devoted. 2. Set Priorities One of the easiest ways to prioritize is to make a “to do” list. Put the most important tasks at the top and tackle them first. Just be careful not to allow the list-making to get out of control and do not keep multiple lists at the same time. 3. Use a Planning Tool Use a personal planning tool to improve your productivity – and keep it with you. Examples of personal planning tools include electronic planners, pocket diaries, calendars, computer programs, notebooks and your smart phone. 4. Get Organized Disorganization results in poor time management. Implement a system that allows you to handle information effectively. This is not only true for your desk and office bookcase, but also for your computer files and your emails. 5. Schedule Your Time Appropriately Plan your most challenging tasks for when you have the most energy and block out time for your high priority activities. However, try to limit scheduled time to 70% of your day, leaving some time for creative activities such as planning, thinking, and reading. 6. Delegate: Get Help from Others Identify tasks that others can do and then select the appropriate person to do them. Be specific in defining the work, but allow the person some freedom to personalize the task. Finally, don’t forget to reward the person for a job well done. 7. Stop Procrastinating Some tasks seem overwhelming, some seem unpleasant. Try breaking down the tasks into smaller segments that require less time commitment and result in realistic deadlines. If you’re having trouble getting started, ask some colleagues for help. 8. Manage Time Wasters Decrease or eliminate time spent on activities imposed by other people (e.g., don’t schedule meetings unless they are necessary and ask employees to make appointments during periods when you have a lot of work to do). 9. Avoid Multi-tasking Multi-tasking does not actually save time. In fact, the opposite is often true: You

lose time when switching from one task to another, resulting in a loss of productivity. Stay focused on your current problem instead of trying to deal with ten problems at once. 10. Get time for yourself The care and attention you give yourself is an important investment of time. Scheduling time to relax can help you rejuvenate both physically and mentally. To reduce stress, you should reward yourself for a time management success. Regardless of the time management strategies you use, you should take time to evaluate how they have worked for you. Try to find a healthy balance between work and home life. Focus on the tasks that are most important in your life. Invest enough time in your own personal well-being. Always remember that successful time management today can result in greater personal happiness, greater accomplishments at home and at work, increased productivity, and a more satisfying future.

1. 1. Question Which statement is not true for Transformational Leadership? o

Transformational leaders look beyond themselves in order to work for the greater good of everyone.

o

Transformational leaders will bring others into the decision-making process.

o

Transformational leadership is characterized by centralized control over employees.

Transformational leaders seek out different perspectives when trying to solve a problem. Correct 2. 2. Question What are the four primary functions of managers? o

o

Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling.

o

Changing, Ordering, Regulating, and Improving.

o

Improvising, Maintaining, Upgrading, and Reforming.

Analyzing, Preparing, Negotiating, and Scheduling. Correct 3. 3. Question Which of the following factors are emotional intelligence skills? o

o

Self-awareness

o

Self-regulation

o

Empathy

All three answers Correct 4. 4. Question Which statement is true for the Autocratic Leadership style? o

o

This style of leadership is centered on employee participation and involves decision making by consensus.

o

One of the down-sides of this leadership style is that it may lead to endless meetings.

o

The autocratic style of leadership limits employee freedom of expression and participation in the decision-making process.

This style of leadership makes employees responsible for most of the decisions that are made. Correct 5. 5. Question Which ist the first stage of the team development process? o

o

Storming

o

Performing

o

Forming

Norming Correct 6. 6. Question Which statement is true for the “Status Quo Trap” during decision making? o

o

We tend to give disproportionate weight to the first information we receive on a particular issue.

o

The decision making is biased towards the current situation, because it is the "safe" and comfortable option.

o

This trap relates to making choices in a way that justifies past, flawed choices.

Even though most of us are not very good at making proper forecasts, we actually tend to be overconfident about our accuracy. Correct 7. 7. Question Which statement is true for projects? o

o

Projects are unique in nature.

o

Projects have a defined timescale.

o

Projects have limited resources.

All three mentioned statements are true. Correct 8. 8. Question What is the correct order for the project management process? o

o

Planning – Execution – Closure – Initiation.

o

Planning – Initiation – Execution – Closure.

o

Initiation – Execution – Planning – Closure.

Initiation – Planning – Execution – Closure. Correct 9. 9. Question What is the third step in Lewin’s Three Phases Change Model? o

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Unfreezing.

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Changing.

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Refreezing.

Anchoring. Correct 10. 10. Question What is the last stage in effective Crisis Management? o

o

Preparing to Manage the Crisis.

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Learning from the Crisis.

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Containing the Crisis.

Resolving the Crises. Correct 11. 11. Question What does “MBO” stand for? o

o

Management By Observing.

o

Management By Organizing.

o

Management By Objectives.

Management By Openness. Correct 12. 12. Question What is not a good time management strategy? o

o

Use Multitasking.

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Set Priorities.

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Schedule Your Time Appropriately.

Get time for yourself. Correct 13. 13. Question What is not a good advice to understand and overcome resistance against change management? o

o

Ask the resisters to explain why they are resistant.

o

Demonstrate the benefits in adapting the change.

o

Remove resistant employees immediately from the organization.

o

Discuss the change in broad-based meetings to put everyone on the same page. Correct